South Africa - Johannesburg - 22 January 2023 Gauteng Premier Panyaza. Photo Simphiwe Mbokazi African news agency (ANA)
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the province is considering cashless options amid a surge in cash-in-transit (CIT) heists.
Over the weekend two violent heists occurred, on the N12 in Soweto (where a woman was hijacked and kidnapped) and Ekurhuleni.
Lesufi said the Gauteng government has identified fighting crime as priority number one, not to compete with the police, but to supplement them with resources.
He said the provincial government has developed an anti-crime integrated plan to support the police in the fight against these heists.
Lesufi said all the cars the criminals used to commit the heist over the weekend had been hijacked and had false registration numbers. He said if you can’t strategically utilise a car as an evidence-building mechanism, you have lost the plot.
“From the beginning of next month, we are changing the vehicle registration number in our province, we are going to have a new number plate system. The current one is highly compromised and easily duplicated. Our cars have been taken out of the borders, anyone can take our cars and do as they please,” said Lesufi.
He said that regarding cash, there is so much money circulating.
“Therefore every robbery, from CIT heists, ATM bombings and business robberies, people are hunting for cash. We have formulated a strategy to negotiate with various sectors so that we may migrate to cashless options,” he said.
Lesufi said that to support the SAPS, they have given the police two helicopters and close to 95 high calibre high speed BMW’s that are patrolling highways.
“We are also handing close to180 drones, we are putting CCTV in strategic areas so that the police can be in a position to fight crime. Our helicopters were utilised last week when they pinned down those CIT heist suspects around Booysens, Johannesburg; we intend to have six helicopters.
“Our view is that we must have helicopters hovering on our skies every time. We are also installing e-panic buttons. If you check what happened in the robbery on the N12, that incident went on for almost 30 minutes. If there was an immediate panic button we believe our system could have helped,” Lesufi said.
Deputy National Commissioner: Crime Detection, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya said part of what complicates matters is that those who have been arrested are usually released on bail.
Lesufi said the problem is the way evidence is being gathered. He said resources, skills and talent are important when gathering evidence to be presented in court so that bail is not granted.
He said they have brought it to the attention of President Cyril Ramaphosa that criminals get bail easily and there is a need to strengthen bail conditions, and those who have the power to amend the laws must do so with speed.
“We need to strengthen all areas where there are loopholes and ensure that perpetrators are nailed with evidence presented to court,” Lesufi said.
In March, Police Minister Bheki Cele shared his frustrations at the “stubbornly high” cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies. The SAPS reported, at the time, that there were 64 incidents of CIT robberies reported between January and March 2023.
Following a recent surge in CIT heists, following this weekend’s robbery in Soweto, Durban and Ekurhuleni, the Cash-in-Transit Association of South Africa (Citasa) said it has become worried with the more than 30% increase in CIT robberies in 2023.
This, as the industry expects a spike in robberies due to the festive season.
According to the latest Citasa report, the industry has seen a total of 249 cash-in- transit robberies across the country in the period January to October, compared with just 191 in 2022 and 188 in 2021.
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za
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